Hans Peter Wilhelm "Hape" Kerkeling (; born 9 December 1964) is a German comedian, TV presenter, author, and actor.
Career
At secondary school in
Recklinghausen
Recklinghausen (; Westphalian: ''Riäkelhusen'') is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and indus ...
, Hape Kerkeling and some fellow students formed a band (''Gesundfutter'', meaning: health food) and published a record (''Hawaii'').
Kerkeling started his career as a comedian in radio, working for various German broadcasting companies, such as
WDR and
BR.
His breakthrough came in 1984/85 when, still aged only 19, he got a role in the ''Känguru''
television comedy
Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...
show (the German word for ''
kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
'' deliberately spelt without an "h" at the end although this broke the spelling rules at that time). The best-known character in this show was the little boy ''Hannilein'', played by Kerkeling, an irritating child with red hair in a pudding-basin style,
dungarees and sitting on giant-sized chairs, who commented on the world of adults.
Later came guest appearances and sketches on the
Radio Bremen show ''Extratour''. Then in 1989, Kerkeling started up his own comedy TV show, ''
Total Normal
''Total Normal'' is a German television series.
See also
*List of German television series
External links
*
Radio Bremen
German comedy television series
1989 German television series debuts
1991 German television series endings
German-la ...
'' (''Totally Normal''), along with pianist Achim Hagemann. This show, a satirical
spoof
Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to:
* Forgery of goods or documents
* Semen, in Australian slang
* Spoof (game), a guessing game
* Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets
__NOTOC__ ...
on prime-time TV shows, had a totally new format and was awarded several television prizes such as the
Goldene Kamera
The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show is usually held in early February in Hamburg, but has also taken place in Berlin in the past.
The gold-plate ...
, the
Adolf-Grimme-Preis and the
Bayerischer Fernsehpreis. On the show, Kerkeling made television history on 25 April 1991 when he dressed up as Queen
Beatrix of the Netherlands on a state visit to
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and almost managed to get into
Schloss Bellevue
Bellevue Palace (german: Schloss Bellevue, ), located in Berlin's Tiergarten district, has been the official residence of the President of Germany since 1994. The schloss is situated on the banks of the Spree river, near the Berlin Victory Colu ...
to meet the
President of Germany
The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...
for lunch. The satirical song from this show, ''Das ganze Leben ist ein Quiz'' (''All life is a quiz''), made it into the German pop charts.
In 1992, Kerkeling's first film came out: ', which he directed and starred in, as well as helping to write the script.
In 1992, Kerkeling turned down an offer by the big
public broadcasting
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
company
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
to work on the popular prime-time show ''
Wetten, dass..?'' and instead, without his previous partner Hagemann, moved to the independent television sector with the show ''Cheese''. This was similar in concept to ''Total Normal'' and viewing figures were relatively high; still this is considered as his first flop.
In the second half of the 1990s, Kerkeling worked once more for
ARD, presenting the show ''Warmumsherz'' (''Heartwarming''), and filmed several television films (' (1995), ''
Willi und die Windzors
Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm (name), Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
* Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-American musicologist
* Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), A ...
'', 1996; ''Die Oma ist tot'', 1997).
In 1999, Kerkeling returned to success with his
Sat.1
Sat.1 is a German free-to-air television channel that is a part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group.
It is considered the first privately owned television network in Germany, having been launched in January 1984 as ''PKS'' ''(Programmgesellschaf ...
show ''Darüber lacht die Welt'' (''What makes the world laugh''). He also presented the yearly fundraising gala for the German AIDS fund ''Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe''. In 2003, he was awarded the
Deutscher Fernsehpreis
The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999 by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalent to the Emmy Awards, t ...
(German Television Prize) in the category ''Best Entertainment Presenter''.
In January 2004, Kerkeling made another film titled ''Samba in Mettmann'', which is set in
Mettmann in
North Rhine Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabi ...
. In May 2004, and a year later in May 2005, he presented the ''Großer Deutsch-Test'' (a national test show for German grammar and spelling) and in October 2004 the ''Großer Deutschlandtest'' (a test about people's knowledge of Germany). In April and May 2006, he presented the live TV show ''Let's Dance'', the German version of ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...
''/''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'', with
Nazan Eckes.
![Hape Kerkeling1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Hape_Kerkeling1.jpg)
German broadcaster ZDF started the production of Kerkeling's ''Ein Mann, ein Fjord!'' (''A Man, A
Fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...
!'') in May 2008, directed by Angelo Colagrossi and written by Kerkeling, Angelo Colagrossi and Angelina Maccarone. Starring Jürgen Tarrach, Anneke Kim Sarnau, Matthias Brandt and Horst Krause the film portrays Kerkeling as Horst Schlämmer, Uschi Blum and Gisela. The movie premiered on 21 January 2009, on ZDF.
In a survey by the television station
Kabel 1 in 2005, Kerkeling made it into the top ten favourite faces on German television; the only other two presenters were
Günther Jauch and
Thomas Gottschalk.
In 2001, Kerkeling went on a
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
, following the
Way of St James
The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...
for to
Santiago de Compostela. In June 2006, his book ''Ich bin dann mal weg'' (''I'm off for a bit, then''), his diary of this pilgrimage, was top of the ''
Spiegel
Spiegel is German, Yiddish, and Dutch for "mirror". More specifically, it may refer to:
Publications
* '' Der Spiegel'', a weekly German magazine
* Der Spiegel (online), the online sibling of ''Der Spiegel''
Political
* Spiegel scandal, a 1962 ...
'' magazine non-fiction bestseller list. By May 2008, it had sold three million copies.
It appeared in English in 2009 with the title ''I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino De Santiago''. It has also been translated into French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Latvian, Spanish, and Chinese.
Since early 2005, Kerkeling has presented the show ''Hape trifft!'' (which is ambiguous in the German language and may be translated as ''Hape hits the spot!'' or ''Hape meets!'') show, produced by
Günther Jauch's production team ''i&u TV'' on
RTL.
In 2013, Kerkeling spoke and sang the German version of Olaf, a snowman from the new Disney movie ''
Frozen
Frozen may refer to:
* the result of freezing
* a paralysis response in extreme cases of fear
Films
* ''Frozen'' (1997 film), a film by Wang Xiaoshuai
* ''Frozen'' (2005 film), a film by Juliet McKoen
* ''Frozen'' (2007 film), a film by Sh ...
''.
A film about his childhood was released in 2018, titled ''Der Junge muss an die frische Luft'', based on his semi-autographic book, with the main character played by Julius Weckauf. The film biography by Oscar-winning director
Caroline Link
Caroline Link (born 2 June 1964) is a German film director and screenwriter.
Life and work
Caroline Link is the daughter of Jürgen and Ilse Link. From 1986 to 1990 she studied at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF), and then wo ...
was well-received by film critics and the most successful German film of 2018 in German cinemas, selling over 3.8 tickets.
Personal life
On 10 December 1991, in a German television talkshow, filmmaker
Rosa von Praunheim revealed that Kerkeling, among others, was gay. Kerkeling's comment on the ensuing fuss (mostly in the
gutter press
Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as ...
) was that while anyone of a more sensitive nature than him would probably have climbed into the bath with a hairdryer, he could not see the point: they would be dragging another poor soul through the dirt the next day anyway.
Kerkeling lives with his life partner and co-author Angelo Colagrossi in Berlin. Colagrossi wrote a large number of texts and sketches for ''Total Normal'' and other shows, and co-directed the films ''Kein Pardon'', ''Willi und die Windzors'', ''Die Oma ist tot'', ''Samba in Mettmann'' and ''Ein Mann, ein Fjord!''.
In March 2011, Kerkeling announced that he and Colagrossi were getting a divorce.
Characters
Horst Schlämmer
Horst Schlämmer is one of Kerkeling's current characters (and the most successful), the deputy
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
of the fictitious newspaper ''
Grevenbroich
Grevenbroich () is a town in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Erft, approximately 15 km southwest of Neuss and 15 km southeast of Mönchengladbach. Cologne and Düsseldorf are in a 30 ...
er Tagblatt''. His motto is to "get up close and ask tough questions". Dressed in a grey trenchcoat and with a small black
manbag on his arm, he holds interviews at real events such as the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
elections.
Schlämmer speaks to interviewees in an overfamiliar manner, using ''du'' for ''you'' rather than the polite ''Sie'', and addressing them as ''Schätzelein'' (''sweetheart''). He seems to think he is a
sex symbol
A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive.Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor to ...
, attempting to kiss female interviewees despite his loose false teeth. To impress women, he boasts that he earns three thousand (
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
) net a month.
On the
ARD's
Harald Schmidt
Harald Franz Schmidt (born 18 August 1957) is a German actor, comedian, television presenter and writer best known as the host of two popular German late-night shows.
Early and private life
A son of refugees who fled from Sudetenland (now C ...
show, Kerkeling explained his methods. Before a Schlämmer interview, he said, he pours a few drops of strong liquor over his coat, to give the interviewee the impression he or she is being interviewed by a real reporter, but with an alcohol problem, prompting a real response.
The single ''Schätzelein'' came out at the start of 2006, including the songs ''Schätzelein'' and ''Meine letzte Zigarette'' (''My last cigarette'').
In May 2006 Schlämmer appeared on ''
Wer wird Millionär
WER or Wer may refer to:
* Weak echo region, in meteorology, an area of markedly lower reflectivity within thunderstorms resulting from an increase in updraft strength
* Word error rate, in computational linguistics, a common metric of measur ...
'' (the German ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'') as a celebrity candidate, and became the first person to persuade
Günther Jauch, the presenter of ''Wer wird Millionär'', into the contestant's seat. The two made 500,000 euro for a good cause (German AIDS Foundation).
In 2007 a computer game "Weisse Bescheid?!", based on Horst Schlämmer, was released.
In 2009 Kerkeling announced a
mockumentary about Horst Schlämmer running for German Chancellor. It was scheduled to be released to cinemas in Germany shortly before the
German federal election of 2009. According to a BBC piece, Horst Schlämmer would receive 18% of the German vote due partly to his Obama inspired slogan, "Yes weekend".
Hannilein
Kerkeling, in ''Kerkelings Kinderstunde'' (Kerkelings children's hour), as a cheeky child of preschool age named ''Hannilein'', with red tousled hair and a
bib overall
Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers".
Overalls were ...
, sits on oversized chairs and comments on the adult world.
Evje van Dampen
Is a female Dutch relationship counselor who meets various German celebrities (such as
Günther Jauch or
Udo Jürgens).
Siggi Schwäbli
Siegfried (Siggi) Schwäbli is a character who first appeared in 1990 in some episodes of ''Total Normal''. Slow-witted, short-sighted and with glasses made of plastic blocks, Siggi constantly puts his foot in it and often has no idea what is going on. At the ''Cannstatter Volksfest'' festival in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, for example, he went on the
ghost train with
Barbara Schöneberger, a TV host, and almost passed out with fear.
Gisela
Gisela has recently been discovered by Horst Schlaemmer to act in commercials for ''Krueger Coffee''. She has been happily married to her husband, Wolfgang since 1983.
Uschi Blum
Kerkeling performs as a parody of an overweight, aging German
Schlager music singer with streaky success and ridiculous lyrics in her songs.
Awards
![ROMY2011 a14 Hape Kerkeling](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/ROMY2011_a14_Hape_Kerkeling.jpg)
;1983
*
Scharfrichterbeil
;1991
* Adolf-Grimme-Preis in silver for ''Total Normal''
*
Bambi
* Bayerischer Fernsehpreis for ''Total Normal''
*
Goldene Europa Goldene Europa award is the oldest German Television award for artists and entertainers. It was awarded from 1968 to 2003. In the years 1989 and 2001, there were no ceremonies. Since 1981, the gala was broadcast on television.
The original sculptu ...
*
Goldene Kamera
The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show is usually held in early February in Hamburg, but has also taken place in Berlin in the past.
The gold-plate ...
for ''Total Normal''
* ''Goldener Gong'' of the TV program magazine ''Gong''
* Bronze
Rose of Montreux for ''Total Normal''
*
Telestar
The Telestar was a former German television award, created by Das Erste and ZDF. It was succeeded in 1999 by the Deutscher Fernsehpreis
The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programmin ...
;2002
*
Peter-Frankenfeld-Preis
;2003
* Deutscher Fernsehpreis (as a host) for ''Die 70er Show''
;2004
*
Bayerischer Fernsehpreis for presenting ''Die 70er Show''
*
Deutscher Comedypreis as best presenter, for ''Die 70er Show''
;2005
* Deutscher Comedypreis "Best Comedian"
* Goldene Kamera "Best TV Entertainer"
;2006
*
Deutscher Comedypreis ''best comedian'' and ''special award'' for Horst Schlämmer
*
Deutscher Fernsehpreis
The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999 by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalent to the Emmy Awards, t ...
in the category ''best entertainment broadcasting/best presentation'' for his participation in ''
Wer wird Millionär
WER or Wer may refer to:
* Weak echo region, in meteorology, an area of markedly lower reflectivity within thunderstorms resulting from an increase in updraft strength
* Word error rate, in computational linguistics, a common metric of measur ...
'' (''
Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'') celebrity special WM 2006 (RTL)
*
1Live Krone
1LIVE is a radio station operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting corporation in Germany. It specialises in popular music aimed at the 14–39 age demographic, the average age of its listeners is 34.
History
On 1 April 1995 ...
from the
1LIVE
1LIVE is a radio station operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting corporation in Germany. It specialises in popular music aimed at the 14–39 age demographic, the average age of its listeners is 34.
History
On 1 April 1995 ...
radio network by (WDR) ''best comedian''
*Horst Schlämmer given an award by the independent ''MediumMagazin'' as "honorary entertainment journalist of the year"
*''Bestseller Author of the Year'' for 1.1 million copies sold of his travelogue ''
Ich bin dann mal weg''
* Honorary member of the
Verein Deutsche Sprache (German Language Association)
;2007
*
Adolf-Grimme-Preis ''Special Honor of the Association of
German Adult Education Centres''
*
Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen
The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen) is a civil order of merit, of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia was founded on 11 March 1 ...
Order of Merit from North Rhine-Westphalia
*
Osgar
Osgar was a 10th-century Abbot of Abingdon in the English county of Berkshire (now Oxfordshire).
Osgar was a cleric in minor orders who went with Saint Aethelwold from Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, Eng ...
in the category "Charity"
;2015
*Goldene Kamera Jubilee Award
;2018
*
Bayerischer Fernsehpreis (Bavarian TV Award), Bavarian Minister-President's award
Works
*
*
**
References
External links
German websiteHape Kerkeling erhält den Adolf-Grimme-Preis"German Borat shakes up election" BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerkeling, Hape
1964 births
People from Recklinghausen
German gay actors
Gay comedians
German satirists
German parodists
German gay writers
German autobiographers
German male comedians
German people of Dutch descent
German television personalities
German television presenters
German LGBT broadcasters
Living people
Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia
German male non-fiction writers
RTL Group people
ARD (broadcaster) people
Westdeutscher Rundfunk people
Radio Bremen people